Description
Book SynopsisFocusing on the first four images of the other that mobilize René Descartes’ Meditations, viz., the blind, the mad, the dreamy and the bad, Reading Descartes Otherwise spotlights the phenomenological shadows of “Cartesian rationality,” dynamic signs of spectral alterity lodged at the core and the edge of modern Cartesian subjectivity.
Trade Review"This is a very timely and thought provoking volume that provides new insights into Descartes' works as well as extends the currency of his ideas to contemporary debates and a broader public. Theoretically sophisticated, Lee's work brings together an extensive scholarly and critical erudition with a careful reappraisal of Cartesian texts, all the while retaining a sense of intellectual immediacy and relevance through the freshness, insightful, and humorous nature of her interventions." -- -Dalia Judovitz Emory University "Here is a book that rocks the legacy of our Cartesian base with exceptional intelligence, rigor, and humor. A breath of fresh philosophical air!" -- -Avital Ronell New York University "Kyoo Lee presents a timely reengagement with Descartes, exploring the allegorical and spectral edges of his thought with insights that sparkle and startle. Illuminating links with recent thinkers from Bachelard to Badiou show incisively that Descartes's preoccupations with dreams, madness, and matter are still ours today, however differently we may appear to inflect them." -- -Ed Casey Distinguished Professor of Philosophy, SUNY at Stony Brook; author, The World at a Glance
